The change in this game was the defense

In comment 13651615 Simms11 said:

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but not break D. Kept them out of the End zone which was huge. They still gave up way too many deep catches to Thomas. The safety needs to do a better job there. A guy like Thomas needs to be doubled. Also Spags blitzed more with effective results. JPP played his best game of year. The Giants need to figure out a better way to cover TEs and RBs because Robinson is not getting it done this year and RBs and TEs are killing us every game. It will be more of the same this week with Graham and company coming to town!

Fwiw, I thought Robinson played well last night in coverage.

The defense played better no doubt, but the offense was much better because they were able to run the ball and control the tempo of the game. If they were running the ball like that from Week 1, the Giants would be 5-1 right now.

But I give a lot of the credit to Harrison and the guys in the middle. Denver is a running team and the Giants completely shutdown the Broncos running game. Harrison was all over the place last night in what I believe was easily his best game all year. We forced Simien(a backup qb in my opinion)to throw the ball 50 times.The offense did enough but the best thing that they did was NOT turn the ball over.

and the Giants OL won the battle at the line of scrimmage. With no WRs, they knew the Giants were going to run the ball and they still couldn't stop it.

Giants D played well but they were going against a much less formidable unit.

on both sides of the line.

game is different. Some folks just can't accept winning a clean game soundly because the offense didn't march up and down the field on every drive, let alone without our 3 best receivers.

Considering the circumstances, the opponent, and our roster, we literally did everything right last night and won by 13. What else is there to say?

In comment 13651710 Marty866b said:

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But I give a lot of the credit to Harrison and the guys in the middle. Denver is a running team and the Giants completely shutdown the Broncos running game. Harrison was all over the place last night in what I believe was easily his best game all year. We forced Simien(a backup qb in my opinion)to throw the ball 50 times.The offense did enough but the best thing that they did was NOT turn the ball over.

Yup the Broncos are better off with Kapernick. Same with Green Bay

of controlling the LOS, both sides.

We ran the ball effectively, had some big pops. And limited their run game.

While we love drafting the shiney parts such as WR, last night shows you how you can win games in the NFL.

Again, my biggest fear is Flowers. Improving? Enough? Are we settling at a important position such as LT?

point. Which isn't to say that I'm not thrilled they won - I am, although still befuddled about where that play has been all year.

That was one game, though - coming off a bye week at home, against a wounded animal, likely a game they didn't take too seriously given the lopsidedness of the matchup (Denver's strong D vs our banged up WR corps and OL gang that can't shoot straight).

If they do it a few more times, then I'll call the marching band.

Winning was nice, but in reality, last night may have been the highlight of the season.

as well.

I think not being consumed by playing calling allowed Mac to have greater perspective of the overall flow of the game. The D on occasions has been left out to dry by going for it on 4th and giving up short fields.

In previous matchups plenty of points were left on the field and Defense aready gassed from offense playing hurry up and not getting time to recover in between possessions, only to come back out to defend a short field.

Taking the field goals and punting had as much to do with this win as offensive and defensive.

In comment 13651513 Dan in the Springs said:

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if you swapped the offensive production in the fourth quarter with the first quarter, it would have felt almost exactly like the other games. We wouldn't be gloating today, but feeling like we stole one that Denver gave away.

Yes but I would add that swapping production as you say, means the D has more in the 4th quarter instead of being worn down by the time the 4th quarter hits.

Than any kind of sustainable plan to win games with.

And the fact they were able to get a lead and control clock and field position against a powerful defense .......... it was a much better effort than prior outings from the offense even if some of the stats smell the same.

A case of how you can lie with statistics in football .....

In comment 13651882 Ten Ton Hammer said:

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Than any kind of sustainable plan to win games with.

That game was like the Twilight Zone. They allowed 454 yards to the sorryass Browns and no more than 371 yards in any other game! 310 passing yards to Derek freaking Anderson. Only two passers threw for more than 245 yards on that defense, and the other one was Kurt Warner and the SB-bound Cardinals.

The offense played serviceable football, got first downs, kept the defense off the field. That is a HUGE reason why the defense wasnt worn down like it has been in the previous 3 games where it has given up the lead. You wont have one without the other. That first drive of the game, even though it only ended up with 3 points, was a thing of beauty.

Also, special teams. Wing had his best game of the season and was consistently driving the Broncos back to where they were not starting off with great field position.

The difference in this game was our ability to run the ball which changed everything.

Give credit to the offense for also not having a game choking turn over on their side of the field this week. That was a major plus.

In comment 13651641 Eric on Li said:

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Maybe Simien just isn't as good as Winston, Dak, Wentz, Rivers, or Stafford? He made 2 bigger, and relatively unforced, turnovers than all 5 of the others put together while also lacking their arm talent to threaten downfield. The only way he was able to get the ball downfield was by letting Thomas win 50-50 balls and once the WR's and OL got banged up he's just not good enough to overcome that. That's not to say I disagree with the point that if the defense played this well the team would be 4-2 or 5-1 because they would. If JPP played the way he did last night they'd have at least 1 more win. Part of them playing better likely also related to playing from ahead instead of from behind all game. Both units played their cleanest game of the season and that combination complimented each other's success. The offense's improvement from the Dallas game without OBJ to last night was glaring though, and I consider that the most noteworthy development.

this is spot on. and also Denver's doesn't have a real TE threat. agree that the D played better, but I'm not sure they took the leap a lot of folks thought they did. no doubt getting the lead early helped. but also got the sort of breaks they haven't been getting this season. think of the play where simien had charles wide open in the flat and just didn't get the ball there.